Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Economy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Economy Action RTS?

Action RTS + Economy

Of 24 developers who shipped an Economy Action RTS in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 67 more are announced, ×5.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $350k, ×236 the market median. Revenue is up 340% on the market; 67 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 340% on the market, 67 announced, ×5.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Economy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $659 → $67k → $3.4k → $1.3k → $599 → $3.3k (still earning) → $29k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Economy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,468)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $19,190)
Top 5% $353k (exactly $353,109)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 55
Announced 67
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $8.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 340% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action RTS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Economy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Action RTS, Economy; all of the top 25% also carry Base Building, RTS, Strategy
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 2,395 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $19k, 1 in 20 over $350k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 67 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Auto BattlerFair24 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  2. + FPSLong shot16 devs · median $899 · 21 announced
  3. + PuzzleLong shot16 devs · median $594 · 16 announced
  4. + Turn-Based StrategyPoor odds12 devs · median $85k · 16 announced
  5. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds9 devs · median $85k · 18 announced
  6. + Real-TimePoor odds12 devs · median $31k · 18 announced
  7. + HistoricalPoor odds26 devs · median $29k · 57 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds25 devs · median $18k · 54 announced
  9. + SandboxPoor odds30 devs · median $13k · 50 announced
  10. + Procedural GenerationPoor odds22 devs · median $11k · 51 announced
  11. + Grand StrategyPoor odds25 devs · median $7.5k · 41 announced
  12. + 4XPoor odds10 devs · median $7.2k · 23 announced

All 89 pairs on the Action RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cossacks 3 2016 · $7.4M The Battle of Polytopia 2020 · $2.1M ZeroSpace 2026 · EA · $1.4M Medieval Kingdom Wars 2019 · $1.0M Calyx 2026 · EA · $353k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cossacks 3 older $19.99 12,406 82% 372k $7.4M (exactly $7,439,878) GSC Game World
The Battle of Polytopia older $14.99 4,731 94% 142k $2.1M (exactly $2,127,531) Midjiwan AB
ZeroSpace · EA $39.99 1,161 78% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) Starlance Studios, Ironward
Medieval Kingdom Wars older $14.99 2,233 76% 67k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,180) Reverie World Studios
Calyx · EA $24.99 471 88% 14k $353k (exactly $353,109) Studio 568
Ancient Wars: Sparta Definitive Edition · EA older $19.99 453 74% 14k $272k (exactly $271,664) JOTASOFT STUDIOS
Here Comes The Swarm · EA $19.99 358 84% 11k $215k (exactly $214,693) CableHook Games
Anno 1602 History Edition older $9.99 278 78% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Ubisoft Mainz
Anno 1701 History Edition older $9.99 222 85% 6.7k $67k (exactly $66,533) Ubisoft Mainz
Final Outpost: Definitive Edition $9.99 208 76% 6.2k $62k (exactly $62,338) Exabyte Games
City States: Medieval $19.99 48 68% 1.4k $29k (exactly $28,786) Reverie World Studios
Endeavor: Rite of Passage · EA $19.99 32 84% 960 $19k (exactly $19,190) Endeavor
OpenFront · EA $6.99 50 90% 1.5k $10k (exactly $10,485) OpenFront Inc, Evan Pellegrini
Grow Empire: Rome $3.99 28 64% 840 $3.4k (exactly $3,352) Games Station
Territorial Conquest $4.99 22 50% 660 $3.3k (exactly $3,293) Uğur CAN
Of Crowns & Chains · EA $4.99 17 64% 510 $2.5k (exactly $2,545) BlueJayAvis

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.